Deportivo Coruna’s Juan Rodriguez and Sevilla’s Sebastien Squillaci in Coruna on Sunday. (AFP)

Madrid: Ten-man Sevilla climbed to second in the Primera Liga with a 3-1 comeback win at Deportivo Coruna on Saturday, moving above Valencia who were held to a 3-3 draw at home by Villarreal.

Trailing 1-0 and with a man less at the start of the second half, Frederic Kanoute was sent on as a Sevilla substitute and set up Luis Fabiano and then Renato for goals before Diego Capel sealed the win.

Sevilla have 35 points from 18 games and trail Barcelona by nine. Valencia are third with 34 points, two ahead of champions Real Madrid. Villarreal are sixth with 30.

At the Riazor, Rodolfo Bodipo gave Deportivo the lead after 34 minutes and soon after Sevilla lost midfielder Enzo Maresca to a straight red card for elbowing.

Despite having only 10 men, visiting coach Manolo Jimenez brought on striker Kanoute for a defender at halftime and the Mali international crossed for Luis Fabiano to equalise just after the restart.

Kanoute, fined 3,000 euros ($4,038) by the Spanish Football Federation on Friday for revealing an undershirt with “Palestine” written on it after scoring against Deportivo in the King’s Cup earlier this week, also laid on the second.

Renato’s diving header 12 minutes from time set up a frantic finale and Sevilla goalkeeper Andres Palop pulled off a string of saves before substitute Capel made sure of the points after a stoppage-time counter attack.

Sevilla hold a 2-1 advantage over Deportivo for next week’s King’s Cup last-16 second leg at the Riazor.

Ruben Baraja and David Villa put Valencia two-up inside 10 minutes at the Mestalla as they ran Villarreal ragged in the first half, but Fabricio Fuentes pulled one back with a header just before the break.

Joseba Llorente levelled for the visitors in the 76th minute before Edu restored Valencia’s lead three minutes later with a great header.

Giuseppe Rossi grabbed Villarreal’s equaliser from the penalty spot six minutes from time, ending a run of three straight defeats.

In Serie A football, leaders Inter Milan needed a Zlatan Ibrahimovic equaliser to draw 1-1 at home to dogged Cagliari on Saturday.

Jose Mourinho’s side extended their lead to seven points after the Sweden striker tapped the ball in at the far post on 77 minutes following a superb run and cross by substitute Hernan Crespo. Forward Robert Acquafresca had put the Sardinians ahead 12 minutes earlier when he chested the ball down and fired home after defender Walter Samuel slipped.

Italy under-21 international Acquafresca later missed an open goal from close range, one of three good chances mid-table Cagliari had to snatch victory.

Earlier, Genoa rose to fifth with a 3-0 win over lowly Torino in the first game since the mid-season break. The hosts went level on points with fourth-placed Fiorentina after headed goals from Giuseppe Biava, Bosko Jankovic and Thiago Motta. (REUTERS)